Andrzej Dopierała
By : Greg Goodale
Andrzej Dopierała, 38, risked a comfortable life in the United States for a chance to succeed in Polands computer industry. The risk paid off when he became the chairman of the countrys largest computer firm, Hewlett Packard.
Although initially tempted by medicine, he decided to follow in his fathers footsteps and became an engineer. After earning a degree from the electrical department of Warsaw Polytechnic, Dopierała left for America. His first job was as a service engineer for Philadelphia firm Hogan Technical Services, which maintained industrial machinery. He rapidly rose to become the head of the engineering team and finally maintenance director.
In 1990, he worked for Canadian geological equipment firm Computalog. But when U.S. computer firm Bull offered him a sales job in its Polish office, his belief in the future of the computer industry brought him back home in 1991. After becoming head of Bulls sales team, Dopierała was ready for a bigger challenge. He joined Hewlett Packard as a partner liaison director in the computer system department in 1992 and saw the companys turnover in Poland top $100 million in 1995. Two years later he became the director of the computer and printer department. In 1998, Hewlett Packard was recognized as Polands largest computer firm and Dopierała became chairman of the board. As for his position in a merged Hewlett Packard-Compaq, Dopierała declined to speculate.
Past Notes:
1988 Graduated from the electrical department of Warsaw Polytechnic
1988 Service engineer for Hogan Technical Services
1990 Production engineer at Computalog
1991 Returned to Poland
1992 Head of sales team at Bull Polska
1992 Partner liaison director at Hewlett Packard
1998 Chairman of Hewlett Packard
Word of advice:
Keep ahead of change. Anticipate the way your sector, business, organization and market are headed and work hard to put yourself there.
